Russia, U.S. to host new diplomatic meeting on Syria

Smoke rises from buildings on Wednesday following airstrikes on Damascus' rebel-held eastern suburb of Zamalka.

Smoke rises from buildings on Wednesday following airstrikes on...

Russia and the United States will host a foreign minister meeting about the Syria war Saturday in Switzerland, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday.

It will be the first high-level, face-to-face diplomacy between the Russians and Americans on the conflict since efforts to revive a collapsed cease-fire ended in acrimony more than a week ago when the United States suspended them.

A statement posted on Russia's Foreign Ministry website said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry will jointly host Saturday's meeting in the Swiss city of Lausanne. The statement said participants will include "a number of key countries in the region to consider possible further steps to create conditions for the settlement of the Syrian crisis."

John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, confirmed in a statement that Kerry would participate in the Lausanne meeting "with key regional partners" on Saturday and that Kerry would attend another meeting in London on Sunday "with key regional and international partners" concerning Syria. The statement said the purpose was to "discuss a multilateral approach to resolving the crisis in Syria, including a sustained cessation of violence and the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries."

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Western officials said the foreign ministers of Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia would attend the Lausanne meeting. They also raised the possibility that Iran might participate.

The Turks, Qataris and Saudis are U.S. allies, backing an assortment of Syrian rebels seeking the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Russia and Iran, Assad's principal military supporters, contend they are helping the Syrian government battle terrorists.

The Lausanne meeting, if it proceeds, would represent at least a pullback from the atmosphere of increased hostility and recrimination between the United States and Russia since the collapse of the cease-fire agreement they negotiated a month ago.

The Americans and their allies have accused the Russians and Syrians of war crimes over the relentless bombing of insurgent redoubts in the northern city of Aleppo, which has left hundreds of civilians dead. Russia and Syria have rejected the accusations.

On Saturday, Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that was aimed at reviving the cease-fire and allowing humanitarian access to civilian victims, part of a broader Western diplomatic effort to embarrass the Russians.